DESCRIPTION AND
DATA SHEET

King Crater
(Overview)
Farside Terra, Moon

This Apollo stereo view shows the large impact crater King, formed by the impact of an asteroid (or comet) onto the lunar surface. King is 76 kilometers across and 5 to 5.5 kilometers deep.

King is a classic complex crater. The central peak of such a large crater can be conical in shape or may be a cluster of peaks. In King, the central peak complex is a massif 20 kilometers wide and 1.5 to 2.5 kilometers high. A large notch or gap occurs in the northern side. Slumping along the interior of the crater rim has formed a series of step-like terraces 3 to 4 kilometers wide. Terraces form when crater walls become too steep, causing the crater rim to slump.

In larger craters, the tremendous heat and pressures of impact melt large quantities of rock. This melted rock pooled in the bottom of King Crater, forming a melt sheet that slowly solidifies. Melt was also blasted out with the ejecta. Several large pools of impact melt can also be seen in a depression north of King. The largest of these pools is directly north of the crater and is 20 kilometers across.

Additional detail can be seen in close-up views of the central peak region and ejecta deposits.

Location:
     5.0 N, 120.6 E
Quadrangle:
     LTO 65C1, LTO 65D2
Mission:
     Apollo 17
Image Numbers:
     AS17-1836,
     AS17-1837
Image Resolution
(Full-Sized View):
     154 kilometers
Image Width:
     120 meters/pixel
Vertical Exaggeration:
     1.7 × Normal
Vertical Resolution:
     98 meters
Spacecraft Altitude:
     113 kilometers
Stereo Baseline:
     39 kilometers
Convergence Angle:
     18°